If I were doing heavy towing with a CX-5 I probably would add a cooler.
700 lb is not heavy towing. The car is rated for 2000 lb in the US and the same car is rated for 3968 lb. in Europe and Australia.

The transmission is cooled by a heat exchanger in the radiator. If the cars engine cooling is under control, then the transmission cooling is under control.

I have been towing trailers including campers for 40 years. I learned to watch the coolant temperature gauge (and add one if the car didn't have one). On many of my cars I had to add a small auxiliary radiator (Usually a heater core) to keep the water temperature under control at highway speeds or on long hills. I am towing less now (700 lb) and the CX-5 has more power then many of my earlier cars and extra cooling doesn't seem to be a issue but I still check the gauge.

Also, when you get to a stop remember that as soon as you shut off the engine cooling stops (with or without a cooler. If you have just completed a 5 mile hill and there is a diner at the top, pass that one by. Keep driving for a while and let the car relax, then stop.

If you want to add a transmission cooler then add it, but I wouldn't let the lack of one keep me from taking the family camping.

 

Tried to stay out of this one, but not anymore. The standard OE loop around bottom of a hot radiator is not cooling your tranny fluid.
Quote from article:

"As a rule of thumb, every 20 degree increase in operating temperature above 175 degrees F. cuts the life of the fluid in half!
At 195 degrees F., for instance, fluid life is reduced to 50,000 miles. At 220 degrees, which is commonly encountered in many transmissions, the fluid is only good for about 25,000 miles. At 240 degrees F., the fluid won't go much over 10,000 miles. Add another 20 degrees, and life expectancy drops to 5,000 miles. Go to 295 or 300 degrees F., and 1,000 to 1,500 miles is about all you'll get before the transmission burns up.
If you think this is propaganda put forth by the suppliers of ATF to sell more fluid, think again. According to the Automatic Transmission Rebuilders Association, 90% of ALL transmission failures are caused by overheating. And most of these can be blamed on worn out fluid that should have been replaced.
On most vehicles, the automatic transmission fluid is cooled by a small heat exchanger inside the bottom or end tank of the radiator. Hot ATF from the transmission circulates through a short loop of pipe and is thus "cooled." Cooling is a relative term here, however, because the radiator itself may be running at anywhere from 180 to 220 degrees F.!
Tests have shown that the typical original equipment oil cooler is marginal at best. ATF that enters the radiator cooler at 300 degrees F. leaves at 240 to 270 degrees F., which is only a 10 to 20% drop in temperature, and is nowhere good enough for extended fluid life.
Any number of things can push ATF temperatures beyond the system's ability to maintain safe limits: towing a trailer, mountain driving, driving at sustained high speeds during hot weather, stop-and-go driving in city traffic.
An auxiliary transmission fluid cooler is easy to install and can substantially lower fluid operating temperatures. The plate/fin type cooler is somewhat more efficient than the tube and fin design, but either can lower fluid temperatures anywhere from 80 to 140 degrees when installed in series with the stock unit. Typical cooling efficiencies run in the 35 to 50% range."

I don't tow, have an automatic and had to buy an aftermarket tranny cooler. Todays engines are running hotter due to emissions, and with front wheel drive the tranny sits in hot engine bay.
Good thing I have this article and more on my favs!

 

A lot of good advice. Thank you everyone.

I have Torque installed on my phone and a bluetooth adaptor on the OBDII port which allows me to pull all sorts of information, i would start the app and monitor ATF temp when I was towing with the previous car. I had installed a cooler on that car and it made a huge difference even in day to day driving.

I'm going to contact the dealer to make sure I can add a transmission cooler, or if I need to have it installed at an authorized repair shop.

This is the wife's car, so next time I drive it I'll pull some around-town driving temps for the transmission and then compare it after I install the cooler. I'll report back with my findings and might also do a how-to if the dealer says I will not void the warranty if I install the cooler myself.

Thanks again everyone.

 

Thank you for the information. I would like to read the article. Would you share a link?

 

Please note, this is a general article about automatic tranny fluids: Transmission Fluid Flush Tips | Trucks Plus

also good ones: Flush it or Forget it | MotorWeek
Transmission Talk | MotorWeek

"We should flush it every twenty-four to thirty thousand miles."

 

Thanks, I still have trouble with the above. It says that transmission temperature above 220 deg is commonly encountered in many transmissions.

It says thatthe fluid is only good for about 25,000 miles after that happens.

Most cars last over 25,000

Something is wrong

 

It doesn't say "once it has reached 220 degrees it's only good for 25,000 miles after that happens".
It says: "At 220 degrees, which is commonly encountered in many transmissions, the fluid is only good for about 25,000 miles." it could mean if the tranny were to run at 220 degrees most of the time it would last around 25,000 miles. Yes it is a bit ambiguous, but a warning never the less.

 

That's how I understood it as well. If average temperature is 220 degrees oil will typically need changing at 25k.

Do any of you guys use blackstone for oil analysis? I used to do that with engine oil on some other cars, but I would be interested to see how much difference there would in ATF on a 2.5L CX-5 with and without a cooler.

 

I was wondering what was taking you so long to post.

 

B&M 70268 SuperCooler Auto Trans Cooler
Hayden 678 trans oil cooler

aux filter
Derale 13005 Remote Filter Mount Kit

MotorCraft MTCFL910S and FL400S

OR

B&M 80277 Universal Remote Transmission Filter Kit